BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 3, 2026) – The ETSU baseball team overcame a 3-1 deficit in the seventh inning to knock off Samford by a score of 4-3 in 10 innings on Friday night. The Buccaneers improved to 20-8 overall and 5-3 in SoCon action with Friday's victory.
After allowing 13 runs in game one, the Buccaneer pitching rebounded with a stellar effort on Friday. The quartet of
Tadan Bell,
Reid Brosnan,
Thomas Costarelli, and
Evan Rolison combined to allowed three runs on nine hits to go with eight strikeouts on the night. Bell, Costarelli, and Rolison all had scoreless outings. Rolison picked up the win after throwing 1.2 shutout innings late in the game boosting his record to 3-0.
Jamie Palmese and
Gabe Juarez led the ETSU lineup with two hits a piece on Friday.
Nate Conner slugged the lone home run in the contest for the Bucs, which was his tenth of the season.
Mason Ault reached base three times thanks to a pair of walks and a single, while
Henry Ferguson continues his 28-game reached base streak with two walks as well.
ETSU did not waste any time getting into the run column on Friday as Conner led the game off with a solo home run. Following the home run by Conner, however, offense was difficult to come by for both teams as the next runs did not come across until the seventh. A pair of run-scoring singles by Samford in the bottom of the seventh gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 3-1, heading to the eighth.
Samford's lead did not last long though. In the top of the eighth, Ferguson got things started with a leadoff walk and then Palmese singled. Both players moved up a base on a wild pitch.
Axel Melendez then drove Ferguson in with a groundout to get the Bucs back within a run. A couple batters later Palmese would come across to score the tying run on a passed ball to make the score even at three heading to the ninth.
Both teams had a chance to push across the go-ahead run in the ninth, but both left a pair of runners on base. Moving onto the tenth, Melendez got things started with a single. Melendez then stole second base and Juarez worked a walk. A successful sacrifice bunt by Ault moved both runners up 90 feet and then an RBI groundout by
Ian Guanzon gave the Bucs the lead back, 4-3.
Rolison, who entered the game in the ninth with a pair of runners on base with one out, retired the Bulldogs in order in the bottom half of the tenth to preserve the 4-3 win for ETSU.
The Bucs will look to secure their third straight SoCon series win in tomorrow's series finale. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. eastern time from Birmingham.
For more information on Buccaneer baseball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball tab.
